The areas I mentioned above have so many draws and population will continue to boom.

I have recently moved to West Texas where the oil boom has created an opportunity for to me go into business for myself so I have started looking into the LLC and insurances required.I have researched land, home prices, and labor/material cost in the area and there is definitely a benefit to build here.

This came about during the last RE boom where people who didn't know what they were doing, rehabbed homes and then the new buyer found out that the electrics and/or plumbing hidden in walls was defective but the LLC that sold it to them had been dissolved and so they had no recourse.I do like the idea of having extensions written into the loan to start with, so if the rehab takes longer or just doesn't sell quickly, it's already covered.I do have a couple advantages, firstly my friend owns a third of some of my rentals and so the loan will be written with a clause that I can use part of his share of the rents to cover this loan if the loan goes over the fixed period of the term.  

And the thing sold for 270k during the boom.   

The prices are relatively cheap, and the cities I've been looking at are in booming areas.

My dad got taken for $10k by a guru back when the boom was just launching in 2003-04.Best to you both.

Baton Rouge is certainly entering an economic boom with all the tech companies and such coming to the area, but I'd still consider our little metro area "developing" compared to Los Angeles.

Jodie,@Ned Carey has you on the right track, for detailed info. go to the county and ask the tax collector the rules, usually at the chancery court there are computers to research liens, etc.

Louis over the next 5 years with the talks of a tech boom, so my company is looking heavily all over from Kirkwood to Chesterfield and everywhere in between.

The point being investors just got plain lucky when the grossly overpaid in the boom times of the mid 2000s.